Cuisine Fiend's blog

Time for some holiday breads and I've just tried my hand at Norway's entry to the Best Christmas Bread competition. And even though it doesn't blow you away with richness like panettone nor is as indulgent as Stollen, I must say it will be my favourite for Christmas breakfast. Toasted and buttered!

One of my recent efforts, using a refreshed wheat starter based on pineaple juice. The loaf reasonably tasty and crusty - I wished for more air bubbles but perhaps the amount of seeds makes the dough heavier? Either that, or it should have had higher hydration, but it was damn sticky already and not that easy to work with!

Here's how, and below the result.

I fancied making rolls with nice smooth crust and sour, chewy crumb. These (recipe) thankfully didn't crack which was my main worry. Really good to serve as dinner rolls and they do make good toasties, or panini in a sandwich press. Recommended!

My attempt at Poilâne-style bread, here's the recipe - Breadtopia's seemed reasonably authentic and reliable. My starter was rye and perhaps a bit more runny than it should have been but the dough proved nicely, sprang beautifully in the oven and cracked handsomely on top.

The no knead sourdough, originally Jim Lahey's and featuring on NY Times. I do like it but must admit I gave it a nudge or two whilst folding and shaping. I left it to prove in room temperature - possibly it would have benefitted from a longer prove in the fridge, we'll see next time. Also next time I'll do a mix of wholemeal and white - this is all-white.

Sometimes you get tired of the big loaves and fancy something smaller, a housing for a cheese sandwich or a bacon butty. Here’s a selection of some of my favourite bread rolls, in no particular order...

My San Francisco style sourdough - this is definitely one of the top breads in my baking repertoire. It's incredibly tasty, even though made just with white flour, it has richer flavour than white breads usually have.

This is seriously good, for a craving for a perfectly square white sandwich loaf... French sandwich bread, or pain de mie - meaning 'crumb loaf' as there isn't supposed to be any crust.

I’d like to share my basic sweet dough recipe which I’ve found really reliable and versatile. I bake a lot of buns and tea breads as that’s the preferred breakfast fodder in my house... And before you say they are best from the oven – of course, but I freeze them as soon as they cool down and – though not warm – they are as good as defrosted. Show them the oven if necessary.

I know, I know. Not a good way to start, presenting a cheating loaf in my first post. But this is an interesting little number and well worth trying, for when you can't be bothered to feed your starters, or just for a change.

The starter is made with a little rye flour plus white bread flour and more for the main dough, but I've tried adding a mix of white and wholemeal in the past and it works fine. The nice thing is you can throw in seeds and whole grains, flavour it with herbs - it will take it all without protesting.